Aftershock
by Bdoyle
Summary: What happened from the time Daisy defeated Graviton until she said good bye to Coulson And did she say goodbye to May?


**Aftershock**

Daisy lay in her bunk, curled into a ball facing the wall. She'd pulled the pillow into a tight embrace and could not remember how long she'd been crying. She never imagined she had so many tears. Her eyes hurt, swollen to almost slits and the box of tissues she'd pulled into the bed was empty. Crumpled balls of soft paper lay strewn across her mattress and on the floor like mutant snowflakes. She didn't care.

She couldn't remember how long she lay in that crater, staring into the sky waiting for Talbot to fall back to earth and finish her. When that didn't happen she waited for the poison she'd injected into her neck to take her or cause her to spontaneously combust or whatever it did to the people who had used it in the past. She almost laughed at the fact that her monstrous mother's DNA ran in her every cell and somehow that prevented her end. It made her sick, violently sick and it took every bit of what was left of her strength to roll to the side and lose what little contents her stomach held.

She closed her eyes as the tears washed away the dirt and grit from her explosive battle with Graviton…not Talbot. Not the man she'd laughed about in late night tête-à-têtes with Simmons. Talbot was a pompous ass, but never a villain, never a threat or a psychopath. Daisy choked again on the bile that rose from her gut. She hadn't killed their on again off again friend, for surely that's what he had been. She killed the Destroyer of Worlds.

Someone came. She wasn't sure who it was because at some point everything went black, quiet and peaceful. She woke in the med lab with Piper standing over her. There was little conversation other than muffled murmurs of the small med team Simmons had somehow put together in the last few weeks. Everyone was in motion, treating those who had been triaged to this emergency treatment center. She recognized very few and looked anxiously for Jemma, needing the familiarity of someone she trusted even though their relationship was strained to the breaking point. Piper's expression was blank, void of any emotion a definite harbinger of tragedy. A young tech stepped next to her and started explaining something about the amount of blood they needed to take. Daisy looked at the small plastic container attached to the tube leading from her arm. She nodded although she'd heard very little and winced as the girl slid the needle from her vein.

Someone wrapped a bandage around her arm and told her to lie still for a few minutes. She sat up anyway. She needed to get away, to find her family…to make sure they had survived. She stood and felt her legs go weak, grabbed the table she had been lying on and felt a strong arm wrap around her. She looked up into Davis' eyes. He said nothing but held the same expression as Piper. Blank, empty, lost…someone was lost… She wanted to ask, but the pain in her chest stopped her. The tall man said nothing as he helped her to the door. She didn't really care where he was taking her or if he just let her crumple to the floor. Where he did take her to was a row of chairs, helping her to sit before he rushed off to help someone else.

Daisy sat, staring into space, shivering although she was sure she was not cold. Someone draped a small cover over her shoulders and handed her a small bottle of orange juice. Someone told her she needed to drink, but she was sure it would not stay down…nothing would.

Daisy knew her team and everyone one of them would have been on the front line. Med techs or first responders or EMT's or maybe just thankful citizens had pulled her from that black crater and got her back to her home but she had not seen one of the people she desperately needed…all of that heartbreak and distance that had grown between them mattered little right now.

And then there was Mack, standing above her. She noticed his shoes first, covered with grey dust like when someone does spackling or sanding. As her eyes traveled up his legs and chest to his grief-stricken face she noticed more of it some stained with deep red streaks. His look brought her back to tears.

Fitz was dead. Mack had stayed with him until a team could pull him from the wreckage of the building where he gave his life to save Polly and Robin…where he died to break the loop. Fitz was dead and Mack almost carrying her to her bunk, speaking softly as he always did when consoling or reassuring her, like the big brother she never had. She heard very little.

Fitz was dead. Mack stopped when Daisy grabbed a doorframe they passed. Simmons…Jemma stood in the room, ashen and blank, her hands wrapped around the edge of the counter in front of her. A few feet away a stark white sheet covered what Daisy knew was Fitz. They'd brought him to her. Daisy could not help stare at the shape. She could not help notice the dark stain on the sheet. She wanted to do something, to pull Jemma into a hug and hold her together while they cried together, but Mack was shaking his head and saying something she didn't understand.

They walked on in silence, passing others. Some rushed by. Some, barely able to walk, leaned on others. Some seemed relieved while others were traumatized. Mack spoke to most of them, offering his condolences or thanks or both as the case demanded. He pointed some in different directions and answered questions that helped put them at ease. All the while his powerful arm remained around her, holding her up on her feet and urging her forward.

Daisy wondered if the serum had done something to her hearing or her mind because nothing seemed to make sense and everyone seemed to be speaking in muffled mumbles. She saw the door to her bunk open before they were close enough for Mack to turn the knob. He helped her through the door and released her. Another set of strong metallic arms caught her before her knees gave out.

Yoyo…

The woman gently guided Daisy to her bed and helped her to lie down. She turned back to Mack and they spoke quietly, each casting quick glances at her as they did. Mack nodded a few times before stepping next to her and placing a hand on her head before turning and leaving the room. Yoyo pulled a chair close and sat. She started to take Daisy's hand then stopped and set her robotic arms on her lap. The last time they spoke was in anger.

None of that mattered now.

Anger was pointless.

Life was too fragile.

Fitz was dead.

Coulson was dying.

Daisy tried to blink the tears from her eyes. She looked at the same look of devastating loss on Elena's face and uttered one word in a hoarse whisper.

"May…"

It wasn't a question, only a request and Elena understood. She nodded once and rose from her seat. As the door clicked closed, Daisy rolled away from everything as the wracking sobs took over her body. She could not remember ever crying this hard.

When the soft knock came to the door, Daisy did not respond. She didn't hear it over her crying. It had been some time since Yoyo had left and Daisy thought she had felt she sent her away. She considered looking for another box of tissues but right now the sheet and pillow case were absorbing her unending tears. She grabbed the nearest wad and blew her nose into the driest part of it. She didn't hear the approach of the person who laid a hand on her shoulder and jumped when she felt the contact. She turned and looked into the face of the one person who might just pull her back together.

"May," Daisy tried to say but it came out only as a croak as she allowed herself to be pulled into the woman's embrace. She'd been crying before but now everything broke loose and her body shook with the force of her anguish. May merely held her close and let her exhaust the emotion that had overtaken her. She smoothed the girl's hair and laid her cheek against Daisy's head, softly shushing her.

They stayed that way for more than an hour before May pushed herself onto the bed and sat with her back against the wall and Daisy's head in her lap. The sobs and sniffles died away slowly as the girl emptied the box of Kleenex May had retrieved.

Daisy blinked her sore eyes and rested one of her hands under her cheek. She listened to May's controlled breathing and worked to match her own to it. She took deep breaths when she felt her mentor do the same and knew the woman was wordlessly helping her to calm herself, to bring herself back to the warrior she had become…the warrior May had taught her to be.

After a few minutes of controlled breathing, Daisy didn't feel better but she did feel she might at some point. She'd saved the world but hers was still falling apart and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"Fitz…" she began, her voice still shaky.

"Shhh," May uttered softly. "Mack and I were with him. He did not go alone and he was a hero." She added softly. "We have a lot to do and a lot to discuss. Somethings are still a little confusing." She felt the girl nod against her.

For several minutes they listened to the comfortable silence between them. When May started talking again Daisy only listened. She explained or tried to explain the fact that although the Fitz who had saved them from the future dystopia had given his life to save them again, he was also out there traveling to the future. May sounded confused but Daisy understood and somehow it made part of her feel a bit relieved. She imagined Fitz explaining it himself.

Again it grew silent and the girl feared what would be said next. If Coulson had…had gone while she was battling the destruction… Her stomach turned again.

No, he was alive. May assured her he was alive, conferring with Mack about what would need to be done, sharing with him all of the things he might need to know because he was not going to stay and have them watch him die. Daisy would have jumped up if May wasn't gently keeping her in place. She hushed the girl and forced her to breathe deeply again until she was calm enough to continue.

She explained Coulson's plan to spend what time he had left in a place he had never been. She actually laughed when she said Tahiti and both remarked. "It's a magical place." They weakly laughed together. Daisy closed her eyes and prayed that magic would save him but May's next statement froze her.

"I'm leaving with him."

This time Daisy spun, turning to face May, to look in her face and see the reality of her statement. She was shaking her head, frantic at losing them both.

May smiled and placed her hands on the girl's cheeks stopping the motion. She nodded as her brows rose. "I don't think I ever realized how much I love that nerd."

Daisy tried to smile but it was too difficult. No, no, no she could not lose both of them.

"I've told him and he's not going anywhere until he reciprocates." She smiled again. "And since I'm already there I guess it's two for two…"

Daisy merely stared, waiting for something she'd imagined for a very long time.

"I love you, Daisy. If I ever had a daughter…" she paused for a moment and took a breath. "I'd want it to be you. I wish…"

"Don't," Daisy whispered, tears forming once again. "You've always been the mom I needed and the one I want more than anything. I just never thought…"

"Don't you either," May warned, blinking back her own tears.

Daisy laughed a sobby laugh and reached up to hug the woman. May obliged and hugged her back.

"Are you coming back?" Daisy asked into the embrace, afraid to see the answer in May's eyes before she heard it. She felt the nod and let out the breath she held.

"I will be back." May answered as she unconsciously rocked her child. Mother's just tend to do that, it is instinct in all. "Until then we'll keep in touch. If there's a way to save him, we will find it and until then I will help him fill his bucket list."

Daisy laid back and smiled. "I think you might be his full bucket."

Did May blush? Was that even possible?

The woman brushed the hair from Daisy's face and smiled her reply. "I think you should get out of these clothes and shower, you are a little dusty. Then you need to take a break, rest…SLEEP."

"Are you giving me an order?" Daisy smiled.

May nodded.

Daisy shook her head. "You aren't my SO anymore. I don't think it's legit."

May helped the girl to sit up then slid to the edge of the mattress and stood. "I'll always be your SO." She smiled. "It comes with being a mom."

Daisy threw her legs over the edge and watched as May walked to the door and placed her hand on the knob. "May?" She called after her, causing the woman to stop and turn back.

The girl looked at the floor for a moment and took a deep breath. "I looked for my mother for a long time and I found the woman who bore me." She looked up at May who simply stood waiting for her to continue. "She was my mother," Daisy let out a breath. "She was never my mom." She whispered.

May nodded her understanding.

"I love you, mom. I've loved you all my life because you're the one I looked for all that time."

May smiled again as the girl rose and walked on shaky legs to embrace her again. They both let the tears fall freely.

"Shower, change, rest," May reminded the girl. "He wants to see you. We'll all talk."

Daisy stepped back and nodded.

"I'll come for you." May squeezed her hand and opened the door. She smiled once before stepping out and closing it softly.

Daisy stood for a moment staring at it then brushed the tears form her cheeks.

The world had ended and nothing would ever be the same.

But everything was new again.

And there were always new chances.

And Fitz was dead but miraculously he was alive.

And they would find him.

And they'd save Coulson together

Because they were a team

Because they were a family

And that's how they rolled


End file.
